Are You Ready for Summer? Benjamin Franklin Can Help!

As you check off your list of spring maintenance tasks around the house and yard, don’t neglect one essential system: your plumbing. Your water consumption is likely to increase as the months become warmer, thanks to spring cleaning, filling up pools, and summer lawn and garden irrigation, so it’s important to ensure that your pipes and supply lines are in decent shape.

A regular once-over can help you detect problems early before they turn into a homeowner's nightmare such as a burst pipe releasing hundreds of gallons of water by the hour.

Read on for spring plumbing tips that will help you reduce the chances of encountering a serious problem in your pipes and how to prepare for summer:

Clear your drains and gutters

Debris, including leaves, mud, twigs, and grass, love to gather in your drains and gutters. And while no one loves the chore of cleaning these out, it’s an important one to take care of before any bad weather hits.

If you don’t, clogs can lead to leaks in your walls and roof and potentially cause a lot of water damage.

Check your water flow

Landscaping should slant away from your home to prevent flooding. You can do this by finding your property’s highest and lowest points and use dirt to make a slope away from your house.

Time to clean the area around your sprinkler

It's important to monitor your system throughout the season to make sure individual sprinkler heads do not become clogged with obstructions like dirt, grass clippings or other debris. Should a sprinkler head be jammed with this material, it can cause an unnecessary buildup in water pressure that can burst the system’s water main. Test your system at the start of the year and monitor it throughout the season to make sure all heads are running as they are supposed to.

It’s also a good idea to check each head to make sure they haven’t been damaged — perhaps because of a careless pass with the lawnmower. A damaged head does more than simply fail to water the area it is assigned; it can also be a water waster, as fluid is still assigned to the head by the system but isn’t being dispensed as it should be. If you do find a damaged sprinkler head, have it replaced immediately.

Give the outdoor faucet a test run

After its winter hiatus, you'll want to be sure Jack Frost hasn’t done damage to the hardware and pipes. (Hopefully, the outside water supply was shut off and drained before freezing temperatures arrived.)

Turn on the water supply and throw open the valve. You may hear some rushing air and pops at first. Then, close the valve, checking for leaks and drips. Then head indoors to check the pipes for signs of leaking.

Be ware of the impacts from the drought

The nation is currently experiencing one of the most expansive droughts ever recorded, with more than 80% of the US considered abnormally dry. Unfortunately, Kansas is one of the states that’s experiencing the extreme side of things. Plumbing can be impacted by the drought. The soil is extremely dry causing it to shrink. This then makes the ground move and causes broken pipes. Keep a close eye on your pipes this summer season!

When stuff hits the fan, you don’t want to call another plumbing company and end up saying:

“Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought. Useless and disappointing,” – Hilary Duff.

Call us, the punctual plumber.

Check your sump pumps!

Furthermore, if we ever get out of this drought and get the rain we need, make sure your sump pump is working and prepared in case of huge storms! Keep your home dry and your worries at bay with regular maintenance and attention.

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing

With over 1,800 Google reviews we are one of the top local plumbing companies in Wichita. Our team of experts knows how to get the job done right and on time – or if we’re late, we pay you! (316) 768-8374.